


Can We Really Be Just Friends

by Flyingheart



Category: Atypical (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Mutual Pining, Post S2, Slow Burn, Some angst, cazzie endgame of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-13 01:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16007312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyingheart/pseuds/Flyingheart
Summary: Casey makes a decision about what to do.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi people. I'm obsessed with this ship and really had to write something for them. 
> 
> I really hope they don’t go down the cheating route. Casey obviously has strong feelings for Izzie and still loves Evan but I’m going to try to write Casey and Izzie getting together the way I would like for it to happen. I hope you like it!

 

Casey didn’t know what to do. She had never thought she would ever be in such a situation like this.

She couldn’t break up with Evan, she just couldn’t. She still loved him. He hadn’t done anything wrong, anything to deserve this. To deserve being broken up with.

But Casey also couldn’t ignore how she felt whenever she was around Izzie. Those feelings had just come out of nowhere, she had never meant for them to happen. They had been so natural. It felt like she had known Izzie for forever.

She loved being with her. Things with her just felt so right.

But the guilt became too much for her when she looked at Evan. Sweet, clueless Evan who had always been there for her. She really did love him.

Was it possible to fall in love with two people at once? Her mind was going crazy trying to figure it all out.

But even if she did love them both, she couldn’t have them both. She wasn’t a cheater. And she couldn’t lead Izzie on when she still had Evan. She thought about her mom and how angry she had been at her for what she had done. There was no way she was going to do that. Casey knew she had to do the right thing.

The next day, she called Izzie around to her house so she could tell her that she could only be friends with her.

Casey opened the door to Izzie and she tried to ignore how Izzie’s small shy smile as she greeted her gave her butterflies, and how effortlessly pretty Izzie looked in her skirt and top.

Once they got to Casey’s room and sat on the bed, Izzie started to realize why Casey had called her around. Casey looked so nervous and not in the good way. Izzie could see how difficult it was for Casey to get her words out so she tried to make it easier for her, even though she didn’t want to hear those inevitable words.

“You can say it,” Izzie said softly, looking down at the pillow that Casey was clutching in her lap.

Casey looked up at Izzie, at the look of genuine concern and understanding, and the undercurrent of sadness in her eyes. Casey knew she just had to say it so that she didn’t prolong the sadness even more. “I- I can’t do this to Evan.” Casey’s eyebrows furrowed together and she looked away from Izzie once she had spoken the words.

Casey sounded so pained and conflicted and Izzie felt her heart break. She didn’t have the courage to tell Casey to choose her. They had only known each other for such a short time, and what right did she have to ask Casey to do that, to choose her over someone she had been with for so long.

Izzie looked down and pushed her hair behind her ear. “I think deep down I already knew that.” She had hoped that Casey would choose her but she had underestimated Casey’s relationship with Evan.

“I’m sorry,” Casey said. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure that out.”

Izzie let out a watery laugh and looked up at Casey, attempting a smile, embarrassed at her show of emotions and Casey’s heart broke at the tears in Izzie’s eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” Izzie said sadly, “it’s not your fault, it’s just a really shitty situation.” And she didn’t blame Casey for this. She knew that the feelings between them had been so sudden and unexpected. She couldn’t expect things to work out so smoothly and for no one to get hurt. She wasn’t naïve. She tried to let out another laugh to make it seem like she was alright, to keep that pained look out of Casey’s eyes but it wasn’t convincing enough and she ducked her head to hide her tears.

Casey just wanted to reach out and comfort Izzie but she didn’t know if she could considering what she had just told her. She leaned closer to her instinctively.

“It doesn’t change my fe- it doesn’t change how much I still care about you.” She couldn’t help saying it, she wanted Izzie to know. She just hoped it didn’t make her feel worse.

Izzie let out a breath and looked up to the ceiling, trying to hold back her tears. “That’s what makes this suck so much more,” she couldn’t help but admit. If Casey didn’t like her then it would have been easier for her to get over it, but Casey did like her. They had connected so amazingly, in a way that Izzie had never connected with someone before and it really hurt her that they couldn’t have that.

Casey reached across the bed and put her hand over Izzie’s and Izzie looked down at it and let out a heavy sigh and pulled her hand away gently.

“I should go.” She wiped her tears and stood up and Casey didn’t know what to say.

She couldn’t ask Izzie to stay, she knew Izzie needed some space but it hurt Casey so much that she couldn’t be the one to comfort her.

She heard Izzie’s broken ‘bye’ and the door closing and she fell back against the bed, bringing the pillow to cover her face with. She hadn’t anticipated that doing this would hurt this much. The tears in Izzie’s eyes had caught her off guard, she didn’t think Izzie’s feelings for her were so strong for her to react like that. Casey felt her own eyes well up with tears as she thought about the bond that they had formed so quickly and how it had been ruined again. She screamed her frustration into the pillow, and deflated back against the bed again, her tears coming more freely now that she wasn’t holding them in for Izzie’s sake.

This was meant to have been the right thing. She had tried do the right thing. But how could doing the right thing feel so damn wrong.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey and her mom have a talk.

 

It was not long after Izzie had left that Casey’s mom knocked on her bedroom door.

 “Casey honey, it’s me.”

“I don’t feel like talking right now mom.”

Elsa tentatively made her way in to see Casey lying on the bed with her pillow covering her face. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Elsa moved to sit at the end of Casey’s bed. “It’s obviously something honey. I saw Izzie leave, she looked upset.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” The pillow was muffling Casey’s words.

Elsa sighed, sensing that Casey needed some space right now. “Okay, but when you do, you know I’m always here okay.”

Casey didn’t respond and Elsa squeezed Casey’s leg before closing the door gently behind her.

 

Casey eventually made her way downstairs after a couple hours, staying in her bedroom was making her even more depressed. She sat down on the couch next to Sam who was on his laptop.

She flicked through the channels but nothing she did was helping to get her mind off Izzie.

She made her way to the kitchen to make herself a snack instead. And it was just her luck, her mom came in straight after her.

“Hey honey,” Elsa said, coming to lean against the kitchen counter in front of Casey. “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“Okay,” Elsa said softly, but she could see the sadness on Casey’s face. “Do you wanna tell me what happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Elsa sighed, she knew that she wasn’t going to get anything out of Casey this way. She tried another method.

“You can talk to me about these things you know. I’ve had similar experiences with things like this. That girl I told you about in college-“

“Mom please- I don’t want to hear about what and who you did in college.”

“That girl-“ Elsa continued, undeterred. “She was actually my girlfriend for a while.”

“What?”

“Yeah, we dated for a few months, it was a really beautiful relationship. But what I’m trying to say is that I know about being confused about your sexuality, I’ve been through it. And not that I’ve ever felt the need to mention it before, but I actually consider myself bisexual.”

“Okay…” Casey looked away from her mom. “I don’t even know what to do with that information.”

Elsa smiled, leaning over to take Casey’s hand in hers which, to Elsa’s happiness, Casey allowed. “Let me help you okay. Talk to me.”

“It’s too weird.”

“No it’s not, just talk to me. Like…tell me when you first realised you had feelings for Izzie.”

Casey covered her face with her hands, this was too awkward. She didn’t have conversations like this with her mom, even if Casey really needed someone to talk to right now and her mom was saying all the right things.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled into her hands.

“Was it when you guys started hanging out more?”

Casey paused as she thought about it. She hadn’t even thought about Izzie in that kind of way until the night of her birthday when they had almost kissed. She hadn’t even considered Izzie an option, she had never thought that Izzie would like her like that.

They had connected so quickly and easily but Casey had thought it was just as friends but after that night she was seeing everything differently and it was so confusing.

“It doesn’t even matter anymore,” she looked at her mom. “I already told her that we could only be friends.”

Elsa was surprised at that, but she nodded. So that’s why Izzie had left so upset. “Because of Evan.”

“Of course, because of Evan, I don’t want to hurt him.”

“I know you don’t honey.” Elsa paused, trying to figure out the best way to say what she wanted to. She didn’t want Casey doing this just for Evan, she wanted her to put herself first and do what was best for her.  “But you have to think about yourself first and what you want. You don’t have to feel guilty about your feelings or even wanting to explore them.”

“Like you did,” Casey spat out.

Elsa looked down before looking back up again. “What I did and what you’re going through aren’t the same thing. What I did was inexcusable but you- you’re still young and figuring yourself out. Let yourself. Don’t tie yourself down to one thing right now because of what I did.”

Casey frowned, irked by the idea that her mom thought that any of her decisions were based on her. Maybe deep down that was true but Casey didn’t want to think about it like that. She didn’t want to admit that part of the reason she was staying with Evan was to prove that she was nothing like her mom.

But she also felt herself succumbing to her mom’s words, the words that told her everything she wanted to hear- that she didn’t need to feel guilty for what she was feeling.

And Elsa could see the conflict on her daughter’s face. She softened, leaning closer to her over the counter.

“Give yourself some time to figure out your feelings, maybe even alone, and then you’ll know who you like more between Evan and Izzie… or neither even.

“I like Izzie more,” said Sam off-handedly, overhearing the conversation as he made his way into the kitchen.

“What?”

“Between Evan and Izzie, I like Izzie more.”

Elsa looked between them. Casey shuffled uncomfortably but she was curious as to why her brother liked Izzie who he’d never even had more than a couple conversations with more than he liked Evan.

“Why?”

“Because she knew that Edison was a tortoise and not a turtle, like most people mistake him to be and that shows an interest in animals and a care and attention to detail which most people don’t bother with and those are really impotant qualities in my opinion.”

Casey’s lips quirked up and she rolled her eyes. Her brother was so difficult to please but sometimes so easy to too. “You just like her ‘cause you’re both nerds.” But Casey felt an odd sense of pride at her brothers words about her friend and she felt her heart flutter as she thought about how Casey had been with Sam.

Elsa heard the fondness in Casey’s voice towards her friend and she raised her eyebrows at Casey knowingly and Casey felt her irritation grow at the look.

“Okay, whatever, I’m going for a run.” She needed to clear her head.

 

Part-way through her run, she stopped in the park to take a quick break. She took her phone out and scrolled down to Izzie’s name. She wanted to say something to her but she didn’t know what. She really hoped that their friendship would be okay. She couldn’t go through school without having her with her again. And she knew Izzie needed her too.

She tapped on the side of her phone before finally typing out a message.

_I hope things are still okay between us._

She saw the message show ‘read’ straight away but no reply came, and Casey sighed. She shoved the phone back in her pocket and ran back home, much faster than she usually would, her lungs burning with the exertion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're liking it :D I know it's quite slow paced but I'm hoping for very regular updates to balance that out. And there will be more Casey and Izzie in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey and Izzie talk things through and they hang out with Sharice.

 

Casey didn’t get a reply to her text. That whole weekend, she heard nothing from Izzie.

Casey spent her weekend at home trying to catch up on her school work, she wasn’t in the right mood to hang out with Evan or Sharice, she was too anxious about how things were between her and Izzie.

 

At school on Monday, she didn’t see Izzie at her locker in the morning like she usually would. She wanted to go look for her but she knew that maybe Izzie needed some space.

Casey went to her biology class like normal and when it was her free period after that, she went to the library to study like she used to when she didn’t hang out with Izzie.

It was during her free period in the library when Izzie came up to her.

“Is this seat taken?”

Casey looked up from her book, eyebrows rising at the sight of a nervous looking Izzie.

“Yeah- yep, of course-no,” she shook her head awkwardly, “I mean-no it’s not taken.” She awkwardly moved her books out of the way to make space for Izzie.

Izzie sat down nervously, and they were quiet for a moment, neither knowing exactly what to say. But it was Izzie who spoke first.

“I-I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you.”

Casey looked at Izzie and shook her head softly. “Don’t be,” she said gently, seeing how nervous Izzie looked. “I thought you probably needed some space from me after...” She let out a self-conscious laugh, not finishing the sentence. She just hoped that Izzie didn’t hate her for choosing Evan over her. She knew that Izzie didn’t realize how hard that had been for her.

“I-“ Izzie looked down at her hands, as if she was deciding what to say. “I…I was embarrassed,” she admitted, letting out a self-conscious laugh. And it was true, she had felt embarrassed, but what she had mostly felt was heartbroken, but she didn’t want to tell Casey that.

She knew it was too soon to be calling it heartbreak when they hadn’t even been anything but Izzie had just felt so sad. She had felt more sad from Casey telling her that they could only be friends than she had from finding out that Nate had cheated on her and her breaking up with him. So obviously what she felt for Casey was so much more real than anything she had ever felt before.

But she had spent the whole weekend thinking about it and she knew that she still wanted Casey in her life- she had become so important to her and Izzie was not willing to let that go, even if they could only be just friends.

Casey felt her guilt ride up at Izzie’s words. “Don’t be-I-“ Casey stuttered, she didn’t really know what to say except that Izzie didn’t need to be embarrassed about this. “I never wanted you to get hurt or feel embarrassed.”

“I know you didn’t.” Izzie looked up at Casey softly. She didn’t want Casey to think that she was upset with her but she could understand why she did. “I know I didn’t reply to your message but—it’s because I was just too embarrassed to…I- I’m not upset with you.”

“You’re not?”

Izzie shook her head softly. How could she be upset at Casey for doing what she felt was right. “Of course not.” She looked down and then back up at Casey shyly. “You’re… my best friend before anything else- and I mean that. And… I still want us to be friends. Your friendship is one of the most important things in my life right now.”

Casey felt her heart flutter at the admission- at how Izzie was still managing to be vulnerable and put herself out there even after what had happened. Casey felt the same way. Izzie had become so important to her.

Casey’s shoulders softened with her relief and she leaned forward. “I feel the same way. I still want to be friends too,” she said softly. “I don’t want things to be weird between us and I hate that they are.” It had only been two days, but Casey had hated not talking to her.

Izzie shook her head. “That’s the last thing I want.”

“I just want us to be friends like we were before.”

“Me too,” Izzie said softly. Even though Izzie wished they could be more, she still wanted Casey in her life. She didn’t want to lose her friendship.

“Let’s promise we won’t let things get weird between us.” She held out her hand seriously, and Casey let out a laugh, relieved beyond words and Izzie let herself laugh too.

Casey took Izzie’s hand in hers softly. “I promise.” She kept hold of Izzie’s hand. “And promise we’ll stay friends no matter what,” she added and Izzie smiled softly.

Izzie was good at hiding her feelings. She had spent most of her life doing it. But this time it meant she got to keep Casey in her life as her friend and that was worth it.

“No matter what.”

 

Things were still a little awkward after that, their conversations were stunted and careful, like whenever Evan was mentioned. They ended up not talking about him ever, it was just easier. But it wasn’t long before things got back to normal.

Things were good over the next few days. But on Friday, Casey noticed that Izzie was acting distant and looked upset.

She found her in the locker room alone, crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She came to sit beside her and put her arm around her.

Izzie just shook her head and looked down.

“Is it your step-dad again?” Casey pressed softly.

Izzie sniffed and wiped her tears with her hands, embarrassed. “I-I had a huge argument with my mom about my step-dad yesterday. She said all these horrible things to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Izzie shook her head, shrugging her shoulders, looking away.

Casey sighed sadly. Izzie would have come straight to her about this before.

But Izzie felt awkward about coming to Casey about these things now. She didn’t feel like she could just turn up at Casey’s house anymore.

“You could have come to me.”

Izzie nodded, she knew that, she was just being weird again.

Casey looked down at Izzie, she knew that she needed a friend tonight. “You…you wanna come round mine tonight?” She remembered that she had asked Sharice to come too, and she couldn’t blow her off, she hadn’t seen her in so long. So she did the only thing she could think of and invited them both. “My friend Sharice is going to be there too, if that’s okay?”

Izzie looked unsure. Sharice hadn’t really given off the friendliest vibes at the birthday party but Izzie couldn’t blame her for that. “I’m not sure, I don’t think she likes me very much.”

Casey laughed, brushing it off. “What? No, that’s not true. Sharice is great, you’re gonna love her.”

 

That evening, Sharice came to her house first and Casey told her that she had also invited Izzie and Sharice didn’t look very impressed.

“Look,” Sharice started, “I know you’re friends with her again, but I for one have still not forgiven her for what she did to you.”

Casey put her hands on her hips and gave Sharice a judging look. “And what if I had said the same thing to you huh?”

Sharice looked down, guilty and Casey laughed it off.

“Come on man, I’m serious, she’s had a rough week…and she’s really cool, she’s not like the other girls there. I think you’ll really like her, and she’s gonna LOVE you.”

That got Sharice to smile a little bit. Casey really did think that Izzie and Sharice would like each other.

 

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Casey went to go answer it. “Hey.”

“Hey Newton.” Casey could tell that Izzie looked a little nervous.

“Sharice is upstairs, come on up.”

Casey and Izzie came into the room, and Izzie gave Sharice a small and awkward smile. “Hey.”

“Okay so listen,” Sharice started without even saying hi, “I know Casey really likes you and stuff, but as Casey’s best friend I’m here to protect her from getting hurt again, so I'm here to tell you you better not even think of doing anything like that to Casey again-“

“Sharice!” Casey interrupted, shocked.

“No, it’s okay,” Izzie said to Casey. She turned back to Sharice and nodded softly. “I guess I deserved that, I was a jerk to you.”

“I’ve already forgiven you, you know that.”

“I know. But I’m sorry to Sharice too, I won’t ever do anything like that again. And I’m really glad that Izzie’s got friends who will have her back like that. And I’m really glad you were upfront with me. I don’t want any ill feelings between us.” Izzie really meant all of that, she would rather Sharice get it all out in front of her face, than keep it locked up and be fake with her. She could tell Sharice wasn’t the fake type and she was liking her already. “I know you’re Casey’s best friend, and if you’re Casey’s friend then you must be a pretty awesome person.”

Casey grinned at Izzie. 

Sharice squinted her eyes as if assessing Izzie’s face for her sincerity, and she must have found it because she softened her features and smiled. “Okay, good.”

Izzie held out her hand to Sharice to shake. “Fresh start?”

Sharice looked at it for a second and then took it with a smile and Casey thanked god that they were finally over the awkwardness.

“Okay wow, thank god that’s over, sheesh,” Sharice got out all in one breath, “I’m so not used to confrontation, was it obvious? Am I sweating?” She asked in a ramble and Casey and Izzie burst into laughter.

“I love you you weirdo,” Casey said with a shake of her head, putting her arm around her shoulder.

“Okay so what should we do, movie?”

 

They ended up watching some dumb horror movie in Casey’s bed. Casey was in the middle and they were all snuggled closely together so they had a better view of the laptop screen. And Sharice was doing her usual hilarious commentary, making them all laugh. “Why on earth- why are you going in there girl,” Sharice said to the laptop screen. “Your white ass is gonna get eaten for sure. God, white people, am I right?”

Izzie laughed. “Totally.”

“Hey!” Casey said with a laugh, but secretly pleased that her two best friends were getting along. “I for one would never do that.” She thought for a second before adding. “Okay but my mom totally would though.”

“Oh she totally would.” They all agreed, laughing.

 

During the movie, Izzie turned to Casey and Sharice in the bed, feeling sentimental. “You know, it’s so nice to just chill and be real with you guys like this, I could never do this with the girls from Clayton. I couldn’t even do it with Nate. But you guys are cool.”

“You dumbasses should just ditch Clayton and move to Newton so we can all live happily ever after.”

Casey smiled at how quickly Sharice had come around to liking Izzie.

Izzie laughed. “That actually doesn’t sound like the worst idea ever.”

They went back to watching the movie and Izzie inevitably fell asleep. Her head was resting on Casey’s shoulder and Casey warmed at the feeling. And she found it difficult to concentrate on the rest of the movie.

At the end of the movie, Izzie had fallen into a deep sleep and was now lying flat on the bed. Casey turned to Sharice.

“I think Izzie’s gonna stay here tonight. Do you wanna stay over too? There’s enough space in my bed for the three of us,” Casey said with a playful wiggle of her eyebrows.

Sharice laughed. “As enticing as that offer sounds, I told my mom I would come home tonight.”

“Alright, well I’ll see you soon. Text me when you get home.”

“Will do. And Casey?”

“Yeah.”

“It was fun tonight. Izzie’s cool.”

Casey grinned, her heart warming at the declaration, she just wanted them to be friends. “I told you.”

Once Sharice left, Casey turned around to face Izzie who was asleep with her head resting on her hand and she smiled at how peaceful and cute she looked, as if she didn’t have all the worries that she had.

Casey pulled the cover over Izzie and let her sleep.

Casey ended up going on her laptop for a bit before Izzie stirred awake.

“Casey?” Izzie sounded confused about where she was.

“Hey,” Casey turned to her with a soft smile. “You fell asleep again.”

Izzie blushed. “Sorry.” They both smiled at each other shyly for a second before Izzie looked around for Sharice. “Where’s Sharice?”

“Oh she had to go home.”

“Oh.” It was just the two of them alone in Casey’s bed and Izzie felt the awkwardness come back again.

Casey could see that Izzie looked exhausted. “Let me get you something to sleep in.”

Izzie came out of the bathroom a little while later, in Casey’s oversized t-shirt and shorts her face washed of all its makeup and Casey felt butterflies in her stomach seeing Izzie like this and in her clothes. She looked so pretty without makeup and so cute drowning in her clothes.

She looked up at Izzie, hoping her staring hadn’t been too obvious. “Ready for bed?”

Izzie was playing with her fingers nervously, she felt nervous about sleeping in Casey’s bed.

“I- I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

Casey sensed the awkwardness and it spread to her. “What?- No- I mean- if-if it makes you more comfortable, I’ll sleep on the floor and you can take the bed.”

“But it’s your bed- I’ll feel bad.”

Casey sighed, she hated this. They were making things awkward again.

She looked up at Izzie. “I thought we promised we wouldn’t make things weird.”

Izzie looked at her softly. “We did.”

“Okay so,” Casey made a decision. “Let’s both sleep on the bed, just like before.” They had done it before, it didn’t have to be so awkward now.

Izzie nodded softly, pleased at Casey’s reasoning. “Okay.”

So Izzie got into the bed with Casey, both of them staying on their own sides, respecting each others boundaries.

It was a little awkward at first- lying in bed together with someone you knew you had feelings for but were trying to ignore. They were both quiet for a few awkward moments but then Casey offered to read Izzie something to sleep and Izzie agreed with a grateful grin.

Casey ended up reading a book of Roald Dahl’s short stories she had on her bookshelf and they both giggled together like little girls but their giggles soon eased as Izzie just listened to Casey read.

“I like your voice,” Izzie said tiredly, and Casey’s heart fluttered at Izzie’s sleepy admission. She’d never had anyone tell her that before.

She looked over at Izzie, fighting her grin. “Yeah?”

Izzie hummed with a soft smile, her eyes closed.

Casey continued reading softer and it wasn’t long before Izzie eventually fell asleep to the soothing sounds of Casey’s voice.

Casey put the book away and settled into bed, turning to face a sleeping Izzie. Casey let her eyes roam over Izzie’s features for a few seconds, she had never let herself look at Izzie like this, without the weight of Izzie’s gaze on her. She sighed at the pretty sight, at Izzie’s adorable freckles, and she tried hard to ignore the way Izzie made her heart flutter.

She turned around and closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it:D I really love Sharice and I wanted her and Izzie to be friends too! Hope it was okay. I would love to hear your thoughts! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey and Izzie study together and Casey and Elsa talk.

 

Casey still hung out with Evan, went on dates with him, kissed him. She loved spending time with him but she desperately tried to ignore how things suddenly just didn’t feel the same anymore.

Over the next couple weeks she saw him less frequently. She gave him the excuse that she was busy with school, which was true but she knew that that wasn’t the real reason she was avoiding him.

 

Her friendship with Izzie on the other hand was going well.

At school, her and Izzie were studying in the library. Casey was slouched over her biology textbook, trying to make sense of the central nervous system.

“Ugh, biology is really kicking my ass.”

Izzie looked up from her laptop with a smile. “You know, I could help you study if you want.”

Casey looked over at her. “Really? I mean- no I couldn’t ask you to do that. You already have so much on your plate already-“

Izzie interrupted Casey’s ramble with a hand on her arm and a little laugh. “You didn’t ask Newton, I offered.”

“Really?”

Izzie smiled. “Yeah, it will help me brush up too.”

 

So the next evening, Izzie came round to Casey’s to help her with her biology.

They were sitting on Casey’s bed, going through Izzie’s notes, when Elsa knocked on the door and came into the room.

“Hey girls, how’s the studying going? Do you need anything, I can make some snacks?”

“No thanks Mrs Gardner,” Izzie smiled politely, pointing to the snacks and drinks they had already brought up. “We already brought some.”

“Good, that’s good,” Elsa said, but she lingered at the door. And Casey looked up at her mom with a frown, knowing that she was up to something.

“Izzie,” Elsa said, coming to stand at the end of the bed. “I love your shirt, it’s gorgeous.”

Izzie smiled, looking down at it. “Thanks, I got it from this vintage store.”

“Oooh lovely. You know, you should give some fashion tips to Casey here, she’s always in those oversized sweatshirts and hoodies, it hides her gorgeous figure.”

“ _Mom_!”

“What, it’s true! You should flaunt what your momma gave ya.”

 “Oh my god, you did not just say that. Please leave!”

“It’s true, isn’t is Izzie?”

Izzie’s shook her head, laughing, not knowing exactly what to say.

“Please get out!” Casey flung a pillow at the door.

Izzie was laughing to herself as Elsa made her way out with a grin and Casey couldn’t help but laugh too at the sight of Izzie’s cute laughter.

“Ugh, she’s so embarrassing.”

“She’s funny, it’s cute how she is with you.”

Casey scoffed at the idea of anyone finding her warden of a mother cute. But she knew that her mom had been trying extra hard lately not to be so controlling so Izzie didn’t see that side of her.

“Yeah right, she’d have me in a dress everyday if she had her way.”

Izzie laughed, looking over at Casey. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I like your style.”

Casey side-eyed Izzie. “You’re making fun of me.”

“No I’m not,” Izzie laughed. “It’s…”  She looked Casey up and down, checking out the cute outfit she had on today- a baggy sweater and shorts and her hair half tied up- and Casey felt her cheeks flush at the look. “It’s very…you, I like it.” Izzie smiled at Casey.

Casey looked down, trying to hide her blush and the smile that wanted to spread across her face.

“And hell,” Izzie continued, wanting to make Casey feel better. “At least your mom wants you to show off your figure, my mom thinks I’m fat.”

“What?!” Casey lifted her head in shock. “No way.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t like me doing all the athletics, she says it makes me look ‘too muscular’.” She rolled her eyes as she said the words.

“Pssh, she’s crazy- you’re like perfect.” Izzie looked up at Casey with soft eyes and Casey stuttered. “I-I mean- your body is-I mean- you’ve got the perfect body- for a runner-I mean.” Casey’s cheeks blushed red at her stuttering and she looked away from Izzie.

And Izzie smiled at Casey’s blush. “Good to know Newton,” she said, pushing her hair behind her ear, fighting her own blush.

“What I meant was,” Casey looked up at Izzie with a small blush, “don’t listen to your mom, she must be crazy if she thinks that- no offense.”

Izzie laughed, and then it softened into a grateful smile and Casey really tried to ignore the butterflies it gives her.

“Okay,” she said, picking up her book over-enthusiastically, “let’s shut up and study now.”

 

Once they had finished studying, Casey hugged Izzie goodbye at the door and her mom joined her to say goodbye.

“Thank you for helping Casey with her studies sweetheart, Sam tried at one point but it wasn’t the best match.”

Izzie laughed, smiling softly. “It’s no problem, I enjoyed it.”

Once Izzie had left, Casey turned around to her mom.

“Why do you live to embarrass me?”

“What are you talking about honey, I just thanked her for helping you?”

“You know what I’m talking about, before in my room.”

“What, the clothes thing? I was only trying to help you.”

Casey’s eyebrows furrowed. _“_ Help me with what? All you did was say that I have a horrible fashion sense and embarrass me?”

“I said you have a great body!”

Casey looked up to the ceiling as she realised what her mom was trying to do. She was trying to be her wingwoman or something with Izzie and Casey didn’t even know what to say. She was furious. Her mom knew she was still with Evan. Why couldn’t she just mind her own business.

“Look, I don’t know what kind of match-making or projecting or whatever kind of thing you’re trying to do right now but stop it okay- I’m not you. I’m still with Evan and Izzie and I are just friends so stop trying to interfere in my life.”

She turned around, not waiting for her mom’s reply and ran upstairs to her bedroom.

And her mom didn’t attempt to come and talk to her again.

 

The studying sessions with Izzie became a regular, twice a week thing and it was really helping Casey a lot.

After school on Monday, Izzie came around to Casey’s to help her study again. They had some music on in the background while they were studying and Sam barged into the room without knocking.

“Can you _please_ turn the music down, I’m trying to concentrate on feeding Edison and I can’t with all that noise.” He then turned to Izzie. “Hi Izzie.”

“Hey,” Izzie smiled kindly at him.

“Have you ever heard of knocking dumbass?” Casey said but she turned the volume down on the laptop.

Sam lingered at the door, playing with his hands, “Izzie, I know you’re helping Casey with her biology but if you needed a break, which I think you might, because I know how difficult it is to tutor Casey,” Sam ignored Casey’s offended remark. “Would you like to watch me feed Edison?”

Izzie laughed and then smiled wide at the offer. “Yeah, sure, I’d love to.” She got up off the bed to follow Sam.

Casey looked between them two as if she had suddenly become invisible. “So, I’ll guess I’ll just stay here then.”

Izzie laughed and turned around, grabbing Casey by the wrist and dragging her behind her.

 

Casey watched Izzie and Sam from Sam’s bed fondly. Izzie was kneeling in front of the tank while Sam explained all about Edison and his feeding habits. Izzie was smiling and listening intently and asking Sam questions and Casey’s heart fluttered seeing how Izzie was with Sam. Casey swore that she could feel herself falling more and more for Izzie in that very moment.

She knew that no one at school knew that Izzie was like this and she felt so lucky to get to see this side of her.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Sam asking Izzie a question.

“Izzie, do you have a boyfriend?”

Casey froze at the question, hoping that Sam wouldn’t completely embarrass her right now.

Izzie let out a little laugh and tucked her hair behind her head. “Er-no.”

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed as if he couldn’t understand why Izzie didn’t. “Why not? You’re so nice and pretty-“

“Sam,” Casey interrupted with embarrassment, “not everyone nice and pretty has to have a girlfriend.”

Izzie spoke with a blush, turning to Sam. “Uh- I’m…kinda just focusing on myself and my studies right now, I’m not really looking to date.” She avoided Casey’s eyes.

Casey tried to ignore the way her heart beat faster at Izzie’s words. She had so many questions she wanted to ask but she didn’t.

There was a knock at the door at that moment and Elsa’s mom popped in.

“Dinner’s ready kids- oh Izzie, you should stay for dinner too honey.”

Izzie looked shy at the offer. “I should probably get go-“

“Nonsense,” Elsa said, “it’s the least we can do with all the help you’re giving Casey in biology.”

“You’re staying,” Casey said to Izzie firmly, knowing she was too shy to accept otherwise.

 

They sat down at the table and Doug turned to Izzie with a smile.

“So…you girls became close pretty quickly huh, I’m glad Casey’s got a good friend at Clayton.”

Izzie smiled shyly at Doug. “Clayton’s been so much better since Izzie joined,” she gave Casey a soft smile which Casey returned and Elsa didn’t miss the soft looks they gave each other.

“You’re on the track team together right?”

“Yeah,” Izzie looked back up at Doug. “She’s a much better runner than me,” she said playfully, earning a laugh from Casey. She turned back to Casey’s parents. “But my time has improved ever since Izzie joined though, she’s a good motivator.”

Doug smiled proudly at the words.

“You know, my biology grade has gone up to a B+ ever since Izzie’s been helping me study,” Casey said with a smile, wanting Izzie to get some credit too.

“That’s great!” Elsa said happily.

“Sounds like you’re both good influences on each other,” Doug smiled at them both.

Sam joined in the conversation. “Izzie helped me to feed Edison today.”

“Oh yeah?” Doug looked impressed. Sam didn’t let just anyone do that.

“Yeah, she said she loves animals.”

Izzie smiled, “My little brother loves all that stuff. I’m always taking my siblings to the zoo and the aquarium and stuff.”

“You should come with us to see the penguins next time,” Sam said.

Izzie smiled at the offer. “Yeah, that’d be really great.”

Elsa and Doug shared a small smile.

 

After dinner, once Izzie had gone home, Elsa came up to see Casey in her room.

“How are you doing honey?”

Casey didn’t know what her mom wanted, they hadn’t spoken properly since last week. “Okay.”

Elsa came to sit at the end of Casey’s bed. “Izzie’s a good kid.”

“Yeah I know.” But Casey could tell from the way her mom said it and looked at her that there was a deeper meaning there.

“So…how have things been with Evan lately?” Elsa tentatively tried to broach the subject.

Casey sighed, she really didn’t want to talk about Evan. “They’re okay.”

Elsa nodded but knew that things with Evan had been off lately. He hadn’t been coming around as much and even when he did, Casey wasn’t the same as she was before with him. She just wanted to help her.

“You know,” Elsa started, looking down. “What you said last week about me…about me projecting things onto you…that’s not what I’m trying to do. It’s just that you’ve seemed so confused about things with Evan lately and I just want to be able to help you with that.”

Casey didn’t say anything and Elsa could tell that she wasn’t in the mood to talk so Elsa got up from the bed. But before leaving, she said one last thing.

“Honey… don’t just settle for the easy option because you’re scared of going for what you really want or scared about what that’s gonna make you. You’ll end up regretting it.”

Elsa closed the door behind her and Casey lay in bed, replaying those words over her head until she finally fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're liking it so far! What do you think of the casey x elsa stuff? and of course, the cazzie development. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Casey/Izzie softness and Casey has an important conversation with her dad.

 

It was a couple of days into fall break and Izzie had come over to Casey’s house. Izzie’s siblings had gone to stay with her grandparents for the week and Izzie had been home alone with her mom and stepdad and so Casey had told her to come over.

They were lying down on Casey’s bed.

“The house is just so quiet without them you know?” Izzie said sadly.

Casey smiled, turning her head towards Izzie. “Aww, you miss them.”

Izzie fought her smile at the teasing. She had been looking forward to this break for herself too, from having to take care of them, but it turned out that two days in, she was already missing them a lot.

She got her phone out. “Look, my grandma sent me this picture of them.” She showed it to Casey, it was of her siblings at a fairground with her grandparents.

“That is downright adorable,” Casey said looking at the picture, “your sister looks just like you.”

Izzie smiled. “You think so?”

Casey nodded. “You’ve got the same cheeks.” She poked Izzie in the cheek and Izzie swatted her hand away, laughing.

Izzie swiped through the pictures to one of her favorite with her siblings- it was a selfie and in the picture they were all over her, hugging her and laughing together and it was the cutest thing that Casey had ever seen. Izzie looked so carefree and sweet, her eyes closed with her laugh, Casey couldn’t get over how pretty she looked.

“Damn,” Casey said, “some killer cuddles must go down with these munchkins.”

“Oh like you wouldn’t believe, they’re practically like koalas.”

Casey smiled to herself, at how Izzie talked about her siblings so fondly.

Izzie swiped again to one of them all dressed up in disney outfits and Casey started laughing. Izzie rolled her eyes, embarrassed but explained anyway. “That’s from my sisters birthday last year. She’s obsessed with disney so we had a disney princess party where everyone dressed up and she made me dress up too.”

Casey took the phone to look at Izzie’s outfit closer in the picture. “Is that…?”

“It’s princess Jasmine,” Izzie said a little embarrassed, “she was always my favorite…stop laughing jerk,” she said to Casey who was trying to control her laughter but she was laughing herself too.

“I’m laughing at how cute you are!” Casey couldn’t get over how cute Izzie looked in her sparkly, bright outfit, and how adorable she looked with the kids. But Izzie didn’t look convinced. “Seriously, this is precious …who knew behind that tough girl façade was a secret disney nerd…you’re probably one of those cheesy romantic types right?” Casey teased.

“Shut up, no I’m not!” Izzie pushed Casey’s shoulders, fighting her smile and Casey grinned at the slight blush on Izzie’s cheeks. She knew she was right.

“You’re seriously adorable.”

Izzie laughed, trying to hide her blush at the words and how Casey said them. Then she softened and turned her head to look at Casey who was still smiling at her.

“You know,” Izzie started, turning to face Casey, “I’ve never shown anyone these pictures before, not even Nate.” She had hidden so many parts of herself from him, he just didn’t fit that part of her life. But she felt comfortable enough around Casey to tell her all these things, she wanted Casey to know. And she knew that Casey would never make her feel strange.

Casey softened too, her heart beating a little harder at the admission, at Izzie allowing herself to be vulnerable in front of her and trusting her enough to show her this stuff.

She put her hand over her heart dramatically. “I’m honored,” she said playfully but they both felt the sincerity of the words.

“Hey!” Casey said excitedly after a second. “Let’s watch Aladdin!” She wanted to do anything to make Izzie feel better about missing her siblings. She almost suggested a pillow fort but didn’t. A pillow fort was a bit too intimate- like being in a world of their own and Casey didn’t fully trust herself. She was afraid she might end up doing something she regrets.

Izzie just looked at her, seeing if she was serious and Casey grinned.

“Seriously, come on, I haven’t seen it in ages, it’ll be cute.”

Izzie beamed. “Okay.”

So they got some snacks and settled into Casey’s bed to watch the movie together. And they weren’t cuddled up together or anything, they left some space in between them now, but Casey still reveled in the comfort of being this close to Izzie. It just felt so right.

They watched the movie and laughed together, and Casey dramatically sang along to the songs just to make Izzie laugh- she didn’t mind embarrassing herself when it got Izzie to laugh like that.

Halfway through the movie, Izzie turned to her softly, smiling at her, almost shy. “Thank you for this, for getting my mind off stuff and singing stupid songs with me…you always know how to make me feel better.”

Casey grinned at being able to have done so. “Yeah, I’m awesome, I know.” Izzie playfully pushed her at the shoulder and then moved to take Casey’s hand that was next to her.

“Yeah you are,” Izzie said softly and Casey felt her heart flutter at the words and butterflies in her stomach at Izzie’s hand that was now in hers.

Casey tried to ignore these feelings but she couldn’t. When Izzie did something particularly sweet, Casey thought about how easy it would be just to lean in and kiss her, how natural it would be and how much she wanted to.

But she couldn’t. Instead she just held Izzie’s hand and watched the rest of the movie, trying to ignore how hard it was getting to stay within the boundaries they had unspokenly made.

 

 

The following week at school on Friday, they were running together at lunch, putting in some extra practice for the race they had soon.

Practice had been so much better for both of them since they had started running together. Izzie loved running with Casey even though she had better stamina than her.

They had run a few laps and Izzie couldn’t do any more just yet. She hated admitting defeat but when it came to Casey, she found that she didn’t mind it as much.

“I can’t go on anymore,” Izzie said, stopping at the bench. “You’re like a machine.”

Casey grinned. “Come on, just one more lap.”

“The only way I could do another lap is if someone carried me.”

Casey grinned. “Alright, go on then.” She came to stand in front of Izzie, offering her back for Izzie to jump on.

Izzie laughed, she had only been joking. “No way Newton, I’m too heavy.”

“Pssh, you’re tiny, come on, I dare you.”

Izzie shook her head and gave in with a small laugh. She climbed onto Casey’s back and as soon as she got on, Casey twirled her around fast and Izzie screamed.

“Casey!”

Casey was laughing her head off.

“Dude! You better not drop me!” Izzie gripped onto Casey’s shoulders. She felt safe though, Casey was holding her tight.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Casey walked around the track with Izzie on her back and she wasn’t even bothered about all the looks they were getting.

“What?” she said playfully to the ones giving them weird looks. “You never seen anyone give someone a piggyback ride before?”

Izzie laughed against Casey’s back, she had stopped caring about what everyone else thought as well ever since she had started hanging out with Casey.

She settled against Casey, resting her head against Casey’s shoulder and Casey felt her heart flutter and she stuttered at the feeling of Izzie against her back and she ended up tripping over her own feet and falling.

“Ouch, dammit.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Izzie avoided injury because she fell on top of Casey but Casey had scraped her knee.

Casey laughed, embarrassed at herself. “Yeah I just…tripped-over…my feet,” she said awkwardly. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. You’re bleeding. Here...” Izzie helped Casey up and put her arm around her shoulder and helped her walk back to the locker room. “Wait here, let me get the first aid kit.”

“I’m a total idiot,” Casey made fun of herself and Izzie laughed.

“Don’t worry about it Newton, I’m a pro at sorting out boo-boos.”

Casey laughed at Izzie’s words, feeling so soft on her.

Casey sat on the bench and Izzie got the disinfectant and bandages out and gently cleaned away the blood. “Sorry if it stings,” Izzie said softly.

Casey just watched Izzie, feeling butterflies at the careful way Izzie took care of her.

“You know,” Izzie said lightly, trying to distract Casey, “the only way to get Sophie to stop crying is with a disney princess band aid and a kiss to make it all better.” She took out the band aid from the box. “Sorry Newton,” she looked up at Casey playfully, “But you get neither, they’ve only got the plain old boring ones I’m afraid.”

Fighting her blush, Casey sarcastically replied, “Oh no, how will I survive.” Neither mentioned the kissing thing but it hung there. Casey had never needed her mom or dad to kiss her to make her better, she had always thought that was stupid. But sitting here, looking at Izzie, Casey thought that a kiss from her right now could make her forget all the problems in the world. 

“Okay, you’re good to go,” Izzie said and she look up at Casey who was looking at her softly, in a way that friends didn’t look at each other. Izzie wondered for a split second if Casey looked at Evan like that. She looked down, blushing. “What?”

Casey blinked out of her look, embarrassed at being caught. She shook her head with a little laugh. “Nothing, just…uh thanks for patching me up,” she said instead of what she was really thinking.

Izzie looked up at her softly with a small smile, gulping down her own emotions. “Don’t mention it.”

And damn, Casey felt butterflies at the shy look.

She shook her head to fight the feeling and stood up, hands on her hips, and grinned playfully. “Race ya back.”

Izzie breathed out a disbelieving laugh. “You literally just fell over and hurt yourself.”

“And I bet I could still beat you,” Casey grinned.

Izzie’s eyes narrowed but she fought a smile. She could never say no to a challenge- especially with the devastating smirk on Casey’s face that she really just wanted to wipe off.

“Okay,” Izzie said standing up, “you’re on Newton.” And in a blur she quickly leaned in to kiss Casey on the cheek and sprinted off laughing, leaving a speechless Casey standing there stupidly. Casey couldn’t believe Izzie just did that.

She quickly broke out of her fluster with a laugh and ran after her. “You’re such a cheat!”

 

After school that day they went to get ice-cream together, blasting music and singing along to the songs and laughing together like they had no care in the world. And it felt so good- being with Izzie just made Casey feel so happy. It made her forget about everything else in her life.

But once she got home, she got a call from Evan asking to hang out tomorrow and reality set back in again.

She tried to hide those feelings when she spoke to him, she tried to sound enthusiastic, but she knows she came across as awkward and she hated it.

It was like her life was separated in two- the one with Evan in it and the one with Izzie. And it was exhausting. She wasn’t the kind of person who could do that. She wanted to be able to talk to Evan about Izzie and how happy she made her, like she had done before, but she just couldn’t do that anymore. She felt guilty every time Evan asked about school and Izzie, even if she hadn’t done anything. Her feelings alone were enough to make her feel bad. She felt like she was lying to him, something she had never done before and she felt horrible about it.

But she couldn’t control the way she felt. She couldn’t control the butterflies she got when she was with Izzie- she had never felt those types of butterflies with Evan. Things with Evan had started off easy and fun, he was a great friend and she liked having him to talk to.

But she had never really felt that nervousness, the sweaty palms and the bubbling excitement just to see him that she got with Izzie.

She knew what it all meant but she was scared about going through with it. Her mom had been right the other night- she was scared about breaking up with Evan because she was scared about what it would make her. But denying her feelings had just become too hard.

After the phone call she went on a run to clear her head. And when she got back, she sat down on the porch for a while, just thinking.

And a little while later, her dad found her and came out to sit with her.

“Hey Case.”

Casey just turned her head a little towards him in acknowledgement.

Doug had noticed how quiet she had been lately. He wasn’t used to seeing her so quiet and serious.

“Something on your mind kid?”

Casey was silent for a moment, she had so many thoughts in her head and she needed some advice. And her dad had always been someone who she could easily talk to.

“Dad…have you ever broken up with somebody?”

Doug’s expression shifted at the unexpected question, but he took a second to think about it.

“I had a couple girlfriends before your mom, but nothing serious.” He was quiet for a moment before he added- “breaking up is more of your mom’s thing, she had a few relationships before me. She was actually dating someone when we met.”

Casey turned her head. “And she broke up with him for you?”

Dough laughed, a little sad at the memory now. “Eventually she did, yes.” Then he turned back to Casey, softer. “Things not working with Evan?”

“It’s…I don’t know.” Casey sighed and looked down again. “I’m…confused about my feelings for someone else.” She paused a second waiting for her dad to say something or look disappointed, but he didn’t. She looked back up at him and his expression softened and he just waited patiently for her to say more. “I love Evan,” Casey continued quietly, “I just don’t know if I’m in love with him in that way anymore.” Having said it out loud for the first time, she felt the guilt wash over her again. She dropped her head into her hands. “I’m the worst person ever.”

“Hey, no you’re not, okay.” Doug moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder. But he was worried about why Casey felt so guilty. “Has…” Doug paused, trying to find the right way to ask this question. “Has anything happened between you and this other person?”

“No!” Casey’s head shot up at the question. “No way, I would never do that to Evan.” She felt awful that her dad would think that she would do something like that.

“I know you wouldn’t,” he said gently. “But then why are you beating yourself up so much about this?”

Casey looked down with a sigh. “I feel bad… Evan’s done nothing wrong, he’s the same old Evan as before- I’m the one who’s… I don’t even know.”

“Look…” Doug said softly, “Evan…he’s your first boyfriend, and you can’t expect that to last forever, first relationships hardly ever do. Feelings change, _people_ change, especially at your age kid—go easy on yourself.”

Casey sighed, her dad always made everything sound so simple.

Doug squeezed her shoulder. “You just have to figure out if the other person is worth it.”

“She is worth it,” Casey said almost to herself and without thinking.

Doug blinked, surprised. “ _She?”_

Shit. That’s not how she had planned on telling her dad.

“Um-uh, yeah-”

“Hey, hey,” Doug said softly, seeing the panic on Casey’s face, “it’s alright. I love you no matter what okay.”

Casey sighed in relief, relaxing more into her dad’s arms. She thought that her dad would be okay with it but there was that niggling part in her mind that had her scared to tell him in case he started treating her differently. But he had taken it so well, better than Casey had hoped and she loved him so much.

After a few moments, her dad asked softly. “Is it Izzie?”

Casey just nodded against his chest.

Doug smiled softly.  Now that he thought about it, it was kind of obvious- the way Casey was with Izzie. “She’s pretty,” he said sweetly and Casey let out a teary laugh, hugging him tighter, so grateful for her dad.

For now she just let herself be comforted by her dad, she didn’t want to think about what was going to happen tomorrow when she met up with Evan.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're still liking it:D I'd love to hear what you guys thought!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Casey has an important conversation with Evan and a few other developments

 

The next day Casey woke up with that horrible queasy feeling she got whenever she felt nervous. She was dreading having this conversation with Evan.They had agreed to meet at her house and the closer it got to the time, the more nervous she felt.

She was feeling restless so she decided to wait for him outside, on the porch. For some reason it made it seem easier than being in her room.

While sitting outside she got a message and she went to check who it was and it was Izzie.

_I’m making cookies with the munchkins. I’ll try and save you some but no promises!!_

There was a photo attached of Izzie smiling cutely in front of a tray of cookies with her brother and sister and Casey felt the tension leave her body and she laughed. Izzie knew how to make her feel better even when she didn’t know that she needed to.

It was enough to slightly settle Casey’s heart and remind her that she was doing the right thing.

It was a few minutes later that Evan’s car pulled up into her house.

“Hey.” Evan smiled wide as he got out of his car and came over to Casey to give her a kiss on the lips.

“Hey,” Casey said, allowing the kiss, knowing what was to come.

“Not that I missed you or anything—but I missed you,” Evan said softly and it was clear he wanted another kiss but Casey couldn’t. She lowered her head a little and Evan pulled back a little to look at her.

“You okay?”

Casey tried to calm her nerves. “Yeah, I-I’m good.”

Evan squinted his eyes, smiling. “You’re acting weird.”

“Yeah uh- I just feel-a little…” Nauseous was the word that she wanted to use.

“Hey,” Evan frowned at how Casey was acting and he took her hand in his. “What’s wrong?”

Casey stepped back and let her hand fall from Evan’s, feeling too guilty to allow Evan to comfort her.

Evan frowned. “Did… did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Casey immediately said, then lowered her head. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“But something  _is_  wrong?”

Casey didn’t know how to put her thoughts into words, this conversation was so hard for her. But her expression was enough of an answer for Evan. Clearly something was wrong from the way Casey was behaving.

“Casey,” he said sadly, finally voicing his feelings that he had felt for a while now, “You don’t even talk to me properly anymore, how am I supposed to know what’s wrong if you don’t tell me. I can’t read your mind.”

“I know you can’t.”

“Then talk to me.”

“I…”

Evan waited for Casey to say something but the longer she took, the more worried he got.

“Is this about that Nate guy?”

“What? No.” At the mention of Nate, Casey’s words came back to her. “I told you what a douche he was.”

“Well some other guy then?”

“No.”

“What is it then? What can’t you tell me?”

“I- I’m confused.” Casey’s voice broke as the words came out.

“Confused about what?”

Tears filled Casey’s eyes, there was no escaping this conversation now. “I- I’m confused about something-  _someone_ … but it’s not a-a boy.”

Evan was silent for a moment and Casey watched as the comprehension slowly dawned on Evan’s face.

“You-“ Evan’s eyebrows furrowed, not wanting to be believe it. “Are you talking about Izzie?”

Casey looked down, unable to deny it and Evan breathed out an “oh my god”. He was quiet for a moment.

‘Did- did anything happen between you guys?”

“ _No_ ,” Casey lifted her head up, wiping at her tears, she needed him to know that. She had never been more grateful for her mom barging into her room unannounced than in that moment. “Nothing happened, I told her we could only be friends-“

Evan stepped back. “So she told you she likes you?”

“But  _nothing_  happened, we’re just friends.”

“But you wanna be more, that’s what this is about right?”

Casey just looked down and Evan moved another step back away, running his hands through his hair.

“I can’t believe this.” He walked away and then back, stopping in front of Casey again. “You know,” he sighed sadly, “I knew things were gonna be different when you moved to Clayton, but I didn’t think you’d change this much.” Casey was silent and Evan continued, almost resigned to what was happening. “It’s like you’re a different person now-“ Casey wanted to deny it but Evan was still speaking. “And with- Izzie… the-the way you talked about her and became so infatuated with her so quickly, even after she was such a jerk to you, it was like she had cast some sort of spell on you or something.”

“It’s not like that,” Casey sighed. How was she supposed to expect Evan to know anything about Izzie when she had practically stopped talking to him about her. “She’s not like that, she-“

“I don’t want to know what she’s like,” Evan interrupted. He wasn’t an overly-emotional guy but this really sucked. He didn’t want to hear about all the things that Casey liked about Izzie.

“I’m sorry,” Casey said tearfully, “I never wanted any of this to happen. I still l-love you and…want you in my life.”

Evan let out a hollow laugh, looking away from Casey. “Well you can’t have it all Casey.”

She knew she was asking too much of him right now. She dropped her head, unable to fight her tears. “I’m so sorry.”

Evan looked away from her, he couldn’t stand to see her cry like this, even though she was breaking up with him. He knew she felt horrible, and even under his sadness and frustration, he knew she hadn’t planned for this to happen.

“Look…I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t…be around to watch you with someone else.” She didn’t look up and he sighed sadly. “I-I just need some time okay,” he said to calm her down. And he lingered there for a moment longer, neither knowing what to say or do. “I’m gonna go,” he finally said. They didn’t hug goodbye or say anything else, he just got into his car and left.

And just like that it was over.

 

 

Casey spent the rest of her day in her room.

Breaking up with Evan hurt just as much as she thought it would. But it had been almost anti-climatic, almost as if he had been expecting it, and Casey didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.

Her thoughts drifted to Izzie. Knowing that Izzie was there and that she could go to her when she was ready was such a comfort. But she felt too guilty to do that right now. The thought of going up to Izzie and telling her that she had broken up with Evan felt like too much- there were too many implications involved that she couldn’t deal with right now. She needed some time to figure things out by herself.  

Izzie texted her asking if they could meet for a bit, but Casey made up an excuse because she couldn’t see her right now.

A little while later, her mom came to check up on her and found her lying down, under the covers.

“Casey honey, what’s wrong?” Elsa came to sit at the end of Casey’s bed and put her hand on her leg. “Did something happen?”

Casey gave up on trying to hide it from her mom, she was going to find out sooner or later, and Casey didn’t have the energy to deal with all her mom’s questions.

“I broke up with Evan.” Casey’s voice was a bit rough from crying.

“Oh  _honey_ ,” Elsa said, moving to sit closer to Casey, “are you okay?”

“I feel horrible.”

“You’re not horrible,” Elsa said softly, “you did the right thing.”

Casey closed her eyes to hide her tears, she really needed to hear that she did the right thing right now, even if it was coming from her mom.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, you’re gonna get through this, I promise.” Elsa gently moved Casey’s hair out of her face, wanting nothing more than just to make her feel better. “What do you need right now? I can make your favorite dessert, or anything you like.”

Casey shook her head, she didn’t feel like eating anything right now.

Elsa just sat with her for a while, in comfortable silence. And Casey allowed her to.

“You know,” Elsa said softly after a while, contemplative, “I remember my first break up. I was just a little older than you. I got this crazy new hairstyle done after, it was like this huge perm type thing,” Elsa laughed as she explained, “I thought I looked so hot, but, god was it ugly. I may even have some photos of it if you need a laugh.” She looked at Casey whose lips quirked up the slightest bit. “Honestly,” Elsa continued, pleased to have made Casey smile, “it wasn’t cute at all, it was like Bob Ross meets Dolly Parton.”

Casey snorted out a laugh at the image.

“Hold on,” Elsa said standing up, “I’ll try and go find the pictures, I keep them hidden.”

Casey watched as her mom left, quietly grateful to her for trying to make her feel better.

 

 

Casey woke up the next morning still feeling strange. She felt like she was in a sort of limbo. She hadn’t spoken to Izzie properly yet since Friday and she was feeling out of sorts.

She went on her morning run earlier than usual, needing to clear her head. On her way back she passed a hairdressers and she stopped outside of it, the rush of the run still going through her.

She needed a change and she was feeling impulsive, so without letting herself think too much about it, she went in.

 

She came home to find her mom in the kitchen.

“Hey sweetie, how was your run?”

Instead of a greeting, Casey took off the hood that she still had on and her mom’s jaw dropped dramatically.

“Oh my god,” Elsa blurted out, but then she tried to control her reaction. She knew it was their conversation last night that had prompted this. “Wow, you-you cut your hair.” She came to stand right in front of Casey.

Casey rolled her eyes out of habit. She pushed her hand through her hair self-consciously. “Does it suck?”

“No, no of course not,” Elsa tried to soothe. “I wish you had told me, I could have done it for you.”

Casey shrugged, she had only decided on doing it when she saw the hairdressers.

Elsa could see Casey looked self-conscious. She smiled, looking back up at Casey’s hair. “It looks good.” Casey gave her a skeptical look and Elsa smiled. “No, really, it suits your face.” Elsa walked around Casey, touching her hair and she turned back to Casey with a grin. “Really honey, it looks great. A bold move but it works.”

Casey felt herself relax a little. She thought that her mom might get really made at her. She touched her hair again. “I just- you know- felt like a change.”

Elsa smiled sympathetically at her. “A new beginning.” Elsa looked at Casey again and felt her emotions start to come up at the sight. “You look like a young woman, when did you get so big?”

Casey rolled her eyes and fought her smile, giving in to her mom’s fussing.

 

Casey went upstairs to get a better look at her hair. She pushed her hands through it, looking at it from all sides. She really liked it. All that hair just got in the way before and its not like she ever did anything with it.

She took a few pictures and sent them to Sharice.

_I did a thing._

_Bitch you cut your hair again?! What is up with you??_

_Looks fricking bomb though_

Casey laughed at her response.

_Can you come over, I need to talk._

_Are you breaking up with me_

_Just get your ass over here dork_

 

“Damn,” Sharice said as soon as she got into Casey’s room and saw her hair for real.

“Shut up.” Casey tried to fight her self-conscious smile.

“So what’s all this about a talk?” Sharice said, coming to sit beside Casey on her bed. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Casey took a deep breath, turning to face Sharice. “I… broke up with Evan.”

 _“What?_ When?”

“Yesterday.”

Sharice was so confused. “Why? Did he do something?”

“No,” Casey said, “it wasn’t about him, it was- about me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Okay,” Casey said, shifting to sit cross-legged on the bed, she was going have to explain everything to Sharice from the start. And so she did. She explained all about how her and Izzie had almost kissed at her birthday. How Casey had told her that they could just be friends. And how Casey had started feelings confused about her feelings for Evan. And then finally, how she had broken up with Evan.

Sharice sat there shocked. “I can’t believe all this was going on with you and I didn’t know about it.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t now how, I just felt so guilty.”

Sharice looked at her softly. “Case, you don’t have to feel so guilty. Evan was a great guy but you knew that that wasn’t going to last forever.”

Casey looked down, she hadn’t known that but apparently everyone else had.

She was so grateful to Sharice for being so supportive. “You’re really okay with all of this?” she asked her.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay? Izzie’s cool,” Sharice said easily. “I mean, yeah it sucks that I’m gonna go from being the third wheel in one friendship to the third wheel in another, but I’m used to that,” she said faux seriously.

Casey laughed, pushing Sharice at her shoulder. “You could never be a third wheel,” she said. “Plus, it’s not even like that, Izzie and I are just friends.”

Sharice looked at her like she was stupid. “Yeah, right now maybe, but you totally want to be more.”

Casey didn’t answer, feeling embarrassed and Sharice laughed.

“She’s so out of my league Sharice,” Casey finally said, covering her face.

“Case, what? You  _are_  the league.”

“What?” Casey looked up, amused.

“I don’t know,” Sharice shrugged and Casey laughed.

“You’d look totally cute together,” Sharice said more softly.

Casey tried to fight the fluttering inside her heart at Sharice’s words.

“Soooo…when are you gonna tell her?” Sharice asked excitedly and Casey tried to control her own excitement.

She sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to?”

Casey thought about it for a moment but she shook her head, this was something that Izzie should hear from her.

“Thank you though, I feel so much better now.” She took Sharice into a hug, squeezing her tight.

Sharice smiled. “That’s what besties are for.”

 

The next day at school, Casey got some looks from people because of her hair but she didn’t really care about them. But she did care about what Izzie would think. She was nervous about seeing her.

When she got to her locker, Izzie was already there, leaning against the locker, on her phone.

Casey tentatively walked up to her and Izzie looked up with a smile. And her jaw dropped at the first sight of Casey’s new hair.

“Woah.”

Casey touched her hair shyly. “I…yeah.” She let out a self-conscious laugh. “What do you think?”

“I-uh“ Izzie was struggling to find the right words, she was still a little shocked. “It looks amazing,” she finally said with a smile. “You didn’t tell me you were getting it cut?”

“Yeah-“ Casey said a little awkwardly, “It was just a… spur of the moment thing.” Now wasn’t the right time to tell Izzie why she had cut it.

Izzie smiled at Casey, a mixture of confused and amused but she didn’t question further. She looked at Casey for a moment, taking in how different she looked with this new hair. The shorter hair made her jawline more prominent, and her eyes stand out more and Izzie couldn’t get over how amazing Casey looked.

Casey ducked her head at the look and Izzie felt her stomach flutter softly at Casey’s blush.

Izzie shook herself out of her daze and tried to act more normal. She smiled wider at Casey, nodding. “It looks totally amazing…and you have the cutest ears.” She reached up to playfully tickle Casey’s ear and Casey flinched back with a laugh.

“Shut up.” She covered her ears with her hands, causing a bit of her hair to fall over her eyes.

Izzie instinctively reached up to gently push that bit of hair back and Izzie’s heart fluttered at the gentle touch and she blushed.

Izzie pulled her hand back quickly at Casey’s blush. “Sorry,” she said, embarrassed.

“No, it’s okay,” Casey laughed, messing up her hair playfully to show she was fine with Izzie touching her hair, “go crazy.”

Izzie let herself playfully mess up Casey’s hair for herself, causing them both to laugh at themselves.

Izzie leaned back to take a look at her work. She felt her stomach flip at how good Casey looked, with her messy hair and bright, shy smile. But she tried to hide it. Instead she tilted her head and screwed her lips up cutely. “Hot,” she said seriously and Casey let out a laugh, shaking her head.

“Let’s go to class, weirdo.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?? This one was a tricky one to write so I hope it was okay. And yes...I gave Casey a haircut:p I love Brigette with the shorter hair and it fit the storyline so I thought...why not xD There's only one chapter left with this and it shouldn't be too long! I'd love to hear your thoughts! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally figure things out...

 

The next week was strange. Casey was still trying to get used to things now that she had broken up with Evan. She had texted him a few days after they last spoke to each other, and they had managed to have a small conversation. And despite the fact that it was awkward, he had sounded okay and it had managed to make her feel so much better.  

And things with Izzie…they were a little more complicated. Casey spent that whole week trying not to act awkward around Izzie but it was impossible. She was finally allowing herself to think about Izzie in the more-than-just-a-friend way and it was overwhelming. Whenever Izzie held her hand or got too close or even just smiled at her, Casey felt like her heart was going to come out of its chest.

But she didn’t know how to tell Izzie. Every time she got close to doing it, she chickened out. And all of her insecurities and doubts kept coming back to her. She was scared that Izzie no longer liked her in that way anymore. Or that she had realised it was better to just stay friends. Or the million other things things that Casey was letting get in the way. And the longer she took to tell her, the harder it was getting.

 

It was Friday evening and Casey had invited Izzie and Sharice to come hang out at her house. Casey was playing music from her laptop while Sharice was braiding Izzie’s hair on the bed.

“I love your hair, you could do practically any style with it,” Sharice said.

“Thanks,” Izzie smiled. “I don’t really do much with it though.”

“You totally should.” She finished off the last bit of the braid. “There, it’s done,” Sharice said once she had finished. “Go check it out.”

Izzie walked up to the mirror and smiled as she looked at the intricate side braid Sharice had done. “Wow,” she said as she played with it. “I love it, you’re so good.”

Sharice smiled with a little shrug. “I practice on my cousins a lot.”

Casey all the while had just been sitting quietly, trying hard not to stare at Izzie.

Izzie turned around from the mirror and looked at Casey, almost shy. “What do you think?”

Casey smiled, trying hard to think of something normal that a friend would say. “It’s… really pretty.” And her words came out softer and more earnest than she had intended and Izzie smiled, ducking her head to fight her blush.

And Sharice shook her head to herself, watching them both. She knew Casey had yet to tell Izzie about her break up with Evan and it was painfully awkward to be in the middle of this tension between them.

“You know,” Sharice said with a smile, “I used to do Casey’s hair all the time when we were younger.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Casey looked up at them both playfully. “That’s like one of the main reasons I cut it.”

“Hey,” Sharice playfully pointed at Casey, “if you think I can’t style your hair this short then you don’t know me at all.”

Sharice excitedly got the hairspray and sat in front of Casey.

“Noooo, Sharice, leave me alone.”

“Case, this floppy mess is cute and all but let me sexy it up a bit.”

Casey covered her face and hair with her arms, embarrassed at Sharice’s words and Izzie laughed at them both.

“Come on Case, let her, she did mine.” She was excited to see what Casey would look like.

“Ugh,” Casey sat back up again, finally giving in, “alright.”

“Oh, so you listen straight away when Izzie asks but not me, I see how it is,” Sharice teased.

“Shut up,” Casey pushed a laughing Sharice at her shoulder.

Once Sharice had finished, she leaned back to get a better look at Casey. “Damn Case, if I was into girls I would totally date you. You look hot.”

“Shut the hell up,” Casey said laughing awkwardly.

Sharice moved out of the way so Izzie could see and Izzie forgot her words for a moment. Casey looked really good.

“Totally hot right,” Sharice said, hiding her smile.

“Yeah,” Izzie broke out of her daze, “totally hot.” And Casey blushed.

“See?” Sharice looked back to Casey. “Good thing you’re newly single now right?”

Izzie looked up at the words, shocked and Casey stilled, not looking at Izzie.

“Okay,” Sharice said, having done her job and sensing the tension. She stood up, pretending to check her phone. “I just remembered I have something super important to do at home so I’ll just leave you two alone- I mean, I’ll see you guys later.”

She was gone before they could even properly say goodbye to her.

Casey and Izzie breathed out an awkward laugh at the way Sharice left.

“She’s such a weirdo,” Casey said, trying to hide the way her heart was thudding in her chest.

“Yeah,” Izzie agreed. She pushed her hair back behind her ear nervously. Sharice obviously knew about them and had done this on purpose. The thought made her heart skip a beat.

“So…” she looked up at Casey softly, “you…broke up with Evan?”

Casey gulped down the lump in her throat and nodded.

“When?”

“Last Saturday.”

Izzie tried to hide her surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve…” she scrunched up her face cutely, trying to keep things light. “I don’t know… brought ice-cream and crappy movies to binge or something.”

Casey breathed out a laugh, she knew Izzie would have totally done something like that but Casey had needed some time on her own, without Izzie.

“How are you dealing?” Izzie asked softly.

Casey nodded with a small smile. “I’m alright.” She looked down at her hand sheepishly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I wanted to so many times, it’s just…” Casey left the sentence hanging, not knowing how to finish it.

Izzie tried to control how her heart was beating. Casey had been acting strange this whole week but Izzie didn’t want to assume anything. But if the breakup had nothing to do with her, then why wouldn’t Casey have told her. She was quiet for a moment, she looked down before finally looking back up at Casey, nervous. “Why…did you break up with him?”

Casey gulped and looked down. _Because of you,_ is what she wanted to say _._ But she was too scared. “We…were better off as friends,” she said instead.

Izzie nodded softly, not pressing Casey but Casey could see the disappointment on her face.

“I-“ Casey started nervously, not meeting Izzie’s gaze, “I…told him I had feelings for someone else,” Casey finally managed to say.

And Izzie looked up at that, her heart hammering in her chest. They had tiptoed around everything these past few months. They hadn’t mentioned what had happened on the birthday since Casey had told her they could just be friends. It was almost like it had never happened.

But right now it was all coming back. Casey was now telling her what she had longed to hear for so long. There was no doubting who Casey meant.

Casey looked so nervous and all Izzie wanted to do was comfort her. She breathed in a big breath and smiled over at Casey. “Newton,” she said cutely and she felt butterflies at the way Casey looked up at her, “come sit up here with me?” she asked so softly and Casey felt her heart start to beat faster in her chest.

She got up and tentatively sat next to Izzie on the bed, leaving a gap between them but Izzie scooted a little closer, closing the gap, causing Casey’s heart to go into overdrive.

“Hey,” Izzie said softly, her eyes crinkling cutely and Casey breathed out a nervous laugh.

“Hi.”

Izzie looked at Casey for a moment, trying to control her own heart. “Why are you so nervous?” She took Casey’s hand in hers gently and looked down at their hands together. “It’s just me.”

Casey breathed out a breathless laugh. “Exactly…it’s you.” She lifted her head to the ceiling, embarrassed at how she was acting. “I’m sorry, I’m being so awkward with this.”

“You’re an awkward person Newton, I’m used to it,” Izzie shrugged playfully.

“Shut up,” Casey said, fighting her blush.

Their laughter died down and they were quiet for a moment. Casey broke the silence. “I…I got close to telling you so many times, I just-,” she gulped down the nerves, “-got scared.”

“Why?” Izzie asked softly.

“Because-“ Casey said, looking down, away from Izzie, “It’s been moths since that night and I…I thought maybe you had changed your mind or thought we were better as friends or-“ she laughed self-consciously, “I don’t even know.”

Izzie didn’t reply to Casey’s ramble. She just looked at Casey for a tense moment and then she leaned forward to rest her head against Casey’s and Casey felt her heart skip a beat. They were almost in the exact same position they had been when they had nearly kissed.

Izzie licked her lips and Casey’s eyes fell down to it. Casey looked up and gulped at the look in Izzie’s eyes, and the flush to her cheeks. Casey could see Izzie’s chest moving up and down with her heavier breaths.

She saw Izzie close her eyes and lean forward and Casey knew it was going to happen before it did but it still managed to surprise her somehow. The first feel of Izzie’s lips against hers was indescribable. Soft and tentative and so full of feeling. Casey had never felt something so perfect. Her whole body hummed and she moved forward into in, gripping Izzie’s arm to keep her close.

Izzie pulled back, breathing against Casey’s mouth. “Does that answer your question?” she whispered.

Casey felt her stomach flutter at the way Izzie asked the question. She didn’t even answer, she just closed the distance between them again and took Izzie’s lips back in hers, this time deeper.

And all the pent-up energy that had built up between them got exchanged in this kiss. Izzie cupped Casey’s face in her hands and tilted her head, deepening the kiss and Casey felt goosebumps all up and down her body. Her stomach erupted in butterflies and her body warmed. It was like fireworks- like all the clichés Casey had heard about but never really felt before. And she never wanted it to end.

But it eventually had to. She pulled back, resting her head against Izzie’s.

“Wow,” she breathed out and Izzie let out a breathless laugh, moving her hands down to take Casey’s hands back in hers.

“Yeah.”

They were both blushing, giggling against each other, and Casey swore she had never felt like this before.

Their laughter slowly died down at Casey’s gaze roamed Izzie’s face, from her eyes to her pretty freckles. “I love your freckles.” It slipped out of her mouth and she blushed, embarrassed.

Izzie let out a giggle at the words and then ducked her head, fighting her smile, a blush tinting her cheeks. She looked up into Casey’s eyes and she gulped, feeling her emotions start to come up at the look in Casey’s eyes. She had spent the last few months trying to ignore her feelings and thinking that this could never happen, and now that it was, she didn’t know what to do.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” she breathed out, allowing herself to be vulnerable.

“I can’t either,” Casey whispered, caressing Izzie’s hand in hers. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure this out.”

Izzie shook her head, then smiled softly at her. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Casey’s heart softened at how wonderful Izzie was. She leaned in to kiss her again, soft and slow and then pulled back, her heart thrumming pleasantly. She couldn’t believe how much she loved kissing Izzie. “I really love doing that,” she said, biting her lip cutely, “…like- _really_ really love it.”

Izzie breathed out a laugh, unable to contain her happiness. “That’s good because I _really_ really love it too.”

They grinned at each other like idiots for a moment and then Izzie leaned in to hug Casey. And they had hugged many times before but this one was different. Izzie pressed her whole body into Casey’s, fitting her head into Casey’s neck, and brought her arms around to pull Casey in closer. And it was the most intimate hug that Casey had received. She brought her arms around Izzie, hugging her tighter and she sighed at the feeling of holding Izzie like this. In the way that she had always wanted to.

“This feels so good,” Izzie breathed into Casey’s neck and Casey’s heart fluttered. She felt the same. Being like this with Izzie just felt so right.

She pulled back, smiling shyly at this newfound feeling between them. “Do you wanna…watch a movie and cuddle?” she asked shyly.

And Izzie beamed, leaning in to press a kiss to Casey’s cheek. “That sounds perfect.” And it really did. “But first…” Izzie said with a small grin, leaning in to kiss Casey again. “I wanna make up for all the times I wanted to kiss you but couldn’t.”

Casey’s stomach warmed and her eyes crinkled. “That’s the best idea I think you’ve ever had.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end guys! I really hope you've enjoyed it. I've loved writing this and all your comments have meant so much! Thank you all for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t think I’m going write too much of a slow burn for this but let me know what you guys think or would like to see happen if you would like :D
> 
> I’d really appreciate any feedback on this! :D
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @ flyingheartss :D


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